Graham, Clow and Builta elementary schools will not be closed under the school boundary change proposal to be presented Monday to the Indian Prairie District 204 School Board.
A board-appointed boundary committee looked at a variety of “concepts” over the course of several months before narrowing them down to two, nixing the school closure suggestions after parents made it clear they did not support them.
Consultant RSP and Associates will now meld the two concepts into one proposal that will be presented at 5 p.m. Monday at an Indian Prairie School Board workshop meeting.
The goal is to revise school boundaries so that overcrowded schools have fewer students, under-populated schools have more and anticipated enrollment shifts in the future are addressed, alleviating the need to redraw boundaries for many years.
If things go according to plan, a new school boundary map will be approved at the Jan. 10 board meeting, board President Laurie Donahue said. That will give district administrators sufficient time to finalize courses, notify students and parents, and determine whether some students should be “grandfathered in” so they do not need to change schools.
The new boundaries will be in place for the 2022-23 school year.
“It’s a known difficult topic to address,” Donahue said. “If you study school boards, (changing boundaries) is one of the most difficult things to do.”
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Serena Lee, whose third-grade daughter attends Clow Elementary, acknowledged it’s tough to address all of the district’s needs while trying to make parents happy.
“I don’t envy the board or RSP or (Superintendent Adrian Talley),” she said. “This is challenging, it is very challenging. It’s like whack-a-mole. You address an issue but another rises elsewhere,” she said.
Below are the two “concepts” that RSP will be combining for the board presentation.
Concept 1
Welch Elementary School students who live north and south of 87th Street will “feed” into Scullen Middle School and Neuqua Valley High School;
Students who end up living in the apartments being built near the Fox Valley Mall area will feed into Waubonsie Valley High School;
Seven elementary schools are “broken feeders,” meaning students attending elementary school together will be divided and attend different middle schools;
Scullen is the only middle school that will have its students feeding into two high schools.
Second concept:
Welch Elementary School students who live north and south of 87th Street will feed into Scullen Middle School and Neuqua Valley High School, same as in concept 1;
Some schools will require the creation of new classrooms to accommodate larger enrollments and others will convert unused classroom space for new purposes, like STEM labs, PTA offices and other uses;
Enrollment shifts from feeder schools will result in all three high schools eventually having about 2,700 students;
Nine elementary schools will have broken feeder patterns, meaning the class will be divided and sent to different middle schools;
Scullen and Still middle school students will feed into two different high schools rather than one.
The first concept would affect about 1,900 elementary students, 1,900 middle-schoolers and 1,200 high schoolers. The second results in changes for about 1,700 elementary students, 2,700 middle-schoolers, and 700 high schoolers.
The district’s total enrollment is about 27,400 in the current school year. Projections show that number could drop below 25,000 in just a few years.